Embodiments of this invention relate in general to electronic systems, and in specific to using at least one component to remove the heat generated by at least one other component.
The electronic components that comprise computer systems generate heat as a byproduct of their operations. As the computer systems, and hence the components, become faster or otherwise increase their performance, the amount of heat that is generated tends to increase.
The prior art has addressed this problem by arranging the electronic components on the board in a dispersed manner. Air is then directed across the components. For example, FIG. 1 depicts a prior art layout for a computer board 10 having a plurality of components, namely four memory modules 11, two memory controller chips 12, a processor 13, and a plurality of surface mounted devices (SMDs) 14. Examples of SMDs are terminators, which are typically resistors and/or capacitors. The terminators are placed at the end of a bus.
The dispersed arrangement of the components allows air 15 to flow over the various components, and thus cool the components. Air 15 is typically forced air, more specifically air that is driven by a fan (not shown). Note that the board 10 may be mounted so that air flow 15 is in an upward, vertical direction, thus cooling is made more efficient by combining the convective force of heated air with the forced air from the fan.
For some components, e.g. processors, such an arrangement does not provided the required cooling. The prior art has attempted to solve this problem by attaching a cooling solution directly to the device. For example, a typical cooling solution is a heat sink 16, which comprises a metal block with fins that increases the surface area that is exposed to the air 15. Another example of a cooling solution is a small fan that would directly attach to the component and provide additional air flow across the component. Note that memory modules 11 may also have heat sinks coupled to them, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,532, entitled xe2x80x9cHEAT SINK AND MEMORY MODULE WITH HEAT SINK,xe2x80x9d filed Jul. 23, 2002, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
This may not work well for more densely packed systems. In many current systems, the components are placed very close to each other, and thus there is often not enough space between the components to allow for proper cooling. In addition to increasing the per unit area of heat generating components, the closer packing also tends to disrupt the flow of air. As shown in FIG. 1, the air 15 tends to flow in on one side of the board 10, flow across the components, and then flow out the other side of the board 10. Because of the spacing between the components, the air flow tends to be laminar. When the components arc packed closer together, the air may not flow in a laminar manner, as various eddies and other flow disruptions may occur. These disruptions tend to reduce the cooling ability of the system.
One embodiment of the invention is a system comprising a first component that generates heat, and a second component that is thermally connected to the first component, wherein the heat from the first component is transferred to a coolant through the second component, and the second component has a function in the computer system associated with an operation of the system other than transferring heat.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method for cooling a first component of a system that generates heat, comprising providing a second component in the system that has a function associated with an operation of the system other than transferring heat, thermally connecting the second component to the first component, whereby heat generated by the first component is transferred to the second component, and transferring heat from the second component to a coolant.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method for cooling a first component of a system, comprising generating heat by the first component, transferring heat from the first component to a second component in the system that has a function associated with an operation of the system other than transferring heat, and transferring heat from the second component to a coolant.
Another embodiment of the invention is a device for transferring heat from a system comprising a first portion for connecting a first component that has a function associated with an operation of the system other than transferring heat, a second portion for thermally connecting a second component that generates heat, a third portion for connecting the first portion to the system, thereby enabling the function of the first component, and a thermal conduction path between the first portion and the second portion, whereby heat from the second component can be transferred to the first component for dissipation to a coolant.